This invention relates generally to clamping devices, and more particularly to a clamp for clamping conduit to a structural support element, such as a metal channel support (sometimes referred to in the industry as "strut").
This invention represents an improvement on the clamp disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,965 which is designed to facilitate clamping a series of conduits arranged side-by-side on a structural supporting element. In that patent each clamp is formed so that it may be readily tightened or adjusted by means of a screwdriver, even though an immediately adjacent conduit is clamped to the same supporting element by another clamp. While the clamp is an improvement over prior clamping devices, which are difficult to install and adjust side-by-side because they interfere with one another (see FIG. 1), it is not effective for clamping conduit of small diameter (e.g., less than one inch in diameter). There is a need, therefore, for a clamp which can be used for such smaller-diameter conduit.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,375,513, 2,846,169, 3,417,951, 3,527,432 and 4,044,428 for conduit clamps generally in the field of this invention.